Saints recruit Curtis Sironen won't be risked after Italy isolation spell

The unlucky Australian second row took advantage of the short break in training to go to Italy with his partner, who had joined him for Christmas, only to test positive for Covid at the airport on his return.

Sironen spent the subsequent 17 days in isolation in Italy, with coach Kristian Woolf wanting him to get more training under his belt before he takes to the field.

Confident that Sironen will be ready for the Super League opener in February, Woolf explained: “Curtis had a terrific pre-season before Christmas and showed the reasons why we brought him over and what he is going to offer to our team.

“He is really diligent and has a strong desire to make an impact here, but a bit of bad luck has disrupted his pre-season.

“He was unlucky to get caught abroad with Covid and has missed a fair chunk of the pre-season since Christmas.

“We think it would be a little bit negligent with the lack of running and contact he has had in the last two weeks.

“If we were to throw him into a game it would put him at risk.

“We are better off giving him a bit of extra training and another couple of weeks of that. He will certainly be right for round one as well.”

Despite this unfortunate hiccup, Woolf has faith in the player to swiftly get up to speed with a few points to prove after a tough 2021 with Manly.

“Curtis is double-jabbed and has done everything right – it is just bad luck,” he said.

“It is obviously a little hurdle in his pre-season but we don’t see it as a major drama.

“We will put some steps in place to make sure we get him up scratch for the season start.

“He has been extremely diligent and worked hard on his body after coming off the back of a year where he was not happy in terms of injury.

“He has done what he can do and worked hard in pre-season, and we know because he has that work ethic we will get him up to scratch pretty quickly.”